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Imagine: A relaxing evening on the couch. You're planning your vacation, checking out hotels and ready to book everything. It would be perfect if you could also send off a digital vacation request right at that moment. But for many employees, this dream of simplicity and efficiency is clouded by corporate reality. The anticipation of vacation is abruptly halted by the thought of paperwork. Forms have to be printed out, filled out, signed and forwarded to the supervisor. From there, it's on to the HR department.
The process raises questions: Is the number of vacation days remaining correct? Has everything been filled in correctly? Who will cover for the employee during his or her absence? The results are often subsequent reconciliation efforts and a high incidence of errors. Sometimes everything has to be reprinted and resubmitted. Meanwhile, a simple hotel offer can slip by, and anticipation turns to frustration. This back-and-forth isn't just stressful for the applicant. Supervisors and HR departments suffer just as much from the paper chaos, which is not only annoying but also a waste of paper in our modern, environmentally conscious world.
Digital transformation - two words that are spreading through almost every area of business. And HR? The gears of digitization are also rattling at full speed. When we talk about HR processes, we are talking about those finely meshed processes in HR management that - often invisibly - drive the engine of a successful company.
Well, how digital is our HR really today? The answer to this question depends heavily on the general "digital pulse" of a company. An interesting detail: According to a study by aconso and the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences, over 50% of companies still cling to manual processes. But the other side of the coin shows an emerging picture: almost as many are already getting on the digital merry-go-round. The trailblazers? Working time recording, digital vacation requests and - drum roll - electronic payroll. A little tip on the side: If you want to delve deeper into the riddle of digital payroll, don't miss our article "Classic meets modern: payroll in transition".
Now it's getting exciting: When can we expect a thoroughly digitized HR department? Opinions on this are mixed. While about one-fifth of the respondents think we still have to be patient for another 3-4 years, a surprisingly large number (20%!) wave it off and don't see full automation as a must-have.
The journey to full digitization can sometimes seem like an overwhelming marathon. And as with any marathon, it's often wiser to pick up the pace step by step rather than trying to charge to the finish line at full speed. This principle is especially true in the corporate world. The solution? Break the big undertaking into manageable, easier-to-handle sub-projects! An ideal example? The vacation request. Here's why:
A vacation request is a clearly defined process with fixed parameters. This makes digitization less complex than for larger corporate projects.
Whenemployees see how smoothly and efficiently the vacation request now works, it creates confidence in further digitization measures.
Every employee has to deal with vacation requests. An improvement here has a direct positive impact on the entire team and increases employee satisfaction.
Before moving on to more complex processes, you can learn from the experience of the digitized vacation request and avoid stumbling blocks for future projects.
When we talk about digitizing the leave application process, we need to start with a clear and structured process model. This model is quite similar in most companies and pulls various players on board. The nuts and bolts here: Who bears what responsibility and how are the substitutions regulated? Only when this foundation has been laid can the vacation request really flow digitally.
Imagine an intuitive form embedded directly on the corporate platform. This is where team members enter their vacation requests. And then? Magic! A sophisticated document management system takes the reins, deftly steering requests through the digital landscape and ensuring that the right people are informed at the right time. The boss gets a prompt message as soon as a vacation request flutters into the system. Thanks to predefined criteria in the system that support review and approval, decision-making becomes child's play.
Start with the simple to master the complex. Digitizing processes like the vacation request brings manageability, visible successes, direct benefits for the team, and helps identify and minimize errors early on. But that's just the beginning. The real value is seen in the scalability of these experiences to larger enterprise projects. Interested? We have a ready-made template that shows all of this in action. Let us inspire you in a personalized demo and see how close your company already is to the next big step in digitization.